Chapter 8DIALOGUE

PREPARED BY: JAANATHARAJ AHNAN PILLAI NOR SHAFIQA BT MOHAMED SHAFFIEEHAWA AZIAH BT AZMANRISHALINEY NADARAJAH

Can tell us what character are like, what they think, and what others think of them.

Is clearly the main ingredient in traditional play.

Almost all the information comes from dialogue.

Gives fiction the same kind of immediacy characters might have on a stage or screen.

In poetry, dialogue is used less frequently.

Must be selective, significant, and involve careful word choice.

Depend on authors style. Some are direct while some are indirect. Subjective writers depend on the thoughts

and feelings of their character. Objective writers depend on what the

character actually say.

There is a Standard Form in Which Dialogue is Written…

All Spoken Material is Placed between Quotation Marks

“Will you marry me?” said Donna, who was pacing angrily across the floor of the penthouse living room.

“You know how I feel about marriage,” Mark said.

Each Time the Speaker Changes, a New Paragraph is Required

“Aren’t you interested in how I feel?” said Donna.“Of course, I am,” said Mark.

The First Word Inside the Quotation Marks Begin With a Capital Letter.

“I come from a very conventional family,” she said.“They happen to believe in marriage.”

“When we first met,” he said,“*you told me you didn’t get along with your family.”

* No capital is used in the continuation if the statement is interrupted by a tag that

identifies the speaker and then continue as a part of a sentences that was started before the

tag.

A Colon Should be Used Before a Piece of Dialogue, but Many Writers Settle for a Comma She stopped pacing and looked at him with narrowed eyes. Finally, she said: “Do you know what I think? I think you’re too self-centered to get married?”

At the End of a Quoted Piece of Dialogue Various Punctuation Marks Can be Used

“Good grief!” he said. “Look who’s talking about self-centeredness. What do you think marriage is all about?” “What do you think it’s all about?” “ Possessiveness!” he said with a cruel smile. “When women get married, it’s not an act of generosity on their part, believe me.”

If There is Descriptive Material That Atends the Dialogue, Either Before or After What is Spoken, it Appears in the Same Paragraph She backed away from him as though he were a dangerous stranger. “You know,” she said, “in time I could learn to despise you.” She picked up her coat and scarf, as though she were preparing to leave.

TAGS TELL THE READER WHO IS SPEAKING

Tags Can be Very Simple “I dont know how a room like this would be for waking up in the

morning. But it’s really a splendid room.” I poured another glass of St. Estephe

“I wish we could do something really sinful,” Catherine said. “Everything we do seems so innocent and simple. I can’t believe we do anything wrong.” “You are a grand girl.” “I only feel hungry. I get terribly hungry.” “You’re a fine simple girl,” I said.

Tags Can be Varied and Elaborate “Don’t touch me,” she blurted out uncontrollably. “I need you,” he growled savagely.

INDIRECT DIALOGUE is a DESCRIPTION or SUMMARY of WHAT WAS SAID.

*Indirect: John told Mary that he was going to Europe.*Direct: “I am going to Europe,” John said to Mary.

*Indirect: John and Mary spent the whole afternoon talking about the museum and art gallery they had visited in Europe.

*Shift: What Mary wanted to know from John was “When are you going to Europe?”

*Use: What Mary wanted to know from John was when he was going to Europe. (indirect)

*Or: “When are you going to Europe?” Mary asked John. (direct)

DIRECT DIALOGUE REQUIRES the USE of QUOTATION MARK.

Some Writers Depend Heavily on Dialogue Dialogue is Usually Blended with Action, Commentary, and Indirect

Discourse Dialogues Can be Used in Poetry:

IN A LONELY PLACE

In a lonely place,I encountered a sageWho sat, all still,Regarding a newspaper.He accosted me:“Sir, what is this?”Then I saw that I was greater,Aye, greater than this sage.I answered “Old, old man, it is the wisdom of the age.”The sage looked upon me with admiration.

ACCENTS INVOLVE DISTINCTIVE MODES OF PRONUNCIATION.

A Character Can Seem to be Speaking a Foreign Language Even Though the Story is Written in English

“One of those shot by the carabinieri is from my town,” Passini said. “He was a big smart tall boy to be in the granatieri. Always in Rome. Always with girls. Always with the carabinieri.” He laughed. “Now they have a guard outside his house with bayonet and nobody can come to see his mother and father and sisters and his father loses his civil rights and cannot even vote. They are all without law to protect them. Anybody can take their property.”

Carabinieri• A member of the Italian police force.

Granatieri•  (from French, derived from the word grenade) was originally a specialized

soldier, first established as a distinct role in the mid-to-late 17th century, for the throwing of grenades and sometimes assault operations.

Bayonet• A bayonet (from French baïonnette) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-

shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear.

A Foreign Character or a Regional Character often Speaks English with an Accent

Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne to git sick; but every time you’s gwyne to git well ag’in. Dey’s two gals flyin’ bout you in yo’ life. One uv’ em’s light en t’other one is dark. One is rich en t’other is po’. You gwyne to marry the de po’ one fust en de rich one by en by. You want to keep’ way fum de water as much as you kin, en don’t run no resk,’ kase it’s down in de bills dat you’s gwyne to git hung.